A family legacy of hope
Born out of love and remembrance for a son and a brother, the Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation has impacted the lives of families for more than 40 years and is one of the longest running fundraising nonprofits on Long Island.
鈥淢y brother died in 1972, when he was only 16 years old; he had leukemia, 鈥� explained Caroline Monti Saladino, Don Monti鈥檚 sister and President of the Monti Foundation. 鈥淗e lived 15 months past his diagnosis. A week later, my parents started the Foundation.鈥�
Raising more than $50 million, the Monti Foundation has served patients at Don Monti Cancer Centers throughout Northwell Health, supported cancer research at 黑料吃瓜资源 and funded an endowed chair scholarship for students at Long Island University鈥檚 Post campus.
Patient care and education has been a focus of the Foundation for many years, supporting multiple cancer programs. In 2006, the Monti Foundation was introduced to CSHL, and research became an integral component of the Foundation鈥檚 mission. Since then, the Foundation has given more than $6 million to CSHL鈥檚 cancer research, most recently supporting Assistant Professor Dr. Lingbo Zhang鈥檚 work on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rare blood cancer that is related to a group of blood disorders, including myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
In 2021, Edward Travaglianti, a good friend of the Saladino family and a former Treasurer of CSHL鈥檚 Board of Trustees, passed away from MDS.
鈥淓d and Arthur (Saladino) were best friends; our families are very close,鈥� Caroline said. 鈥淪o, when we learned about Dr. Zhang鈥檚 work, we knew we had to support it.鈥�
Dr. Zhang combines basic science research, understanding the mechanisms of disease, with translational research, employing a clinical application. In the case of MDS, his lab has uncovered a mechanistic pathway and developed a pharmacological approach to treat this lethal blood cancer.
Dr. Zhang added, 鈥淐urrently, we are working with a team of roughly 20 experts in the pharmaceutical industry 鈥� medicinal chemists, computational-aided drug design experts, and pharmacological experts 鈥� to develop a drug that can impact MDS.鈥�
The research is in early stages and must go through preclinical and clinical testing, but data is promising. On a recent tour of Dr. Zhang鈥檚 laboratory, the Saladinos鈥� excitement for the research and passion for the cause was evident.
鈥淲e host a Survivor鈥檚 Day, and when you hear the stories directly from cancer survivors, there is a personal connection,鈥� Saladino said. 鈥淩esearch is everything, because without that, we would be back to the dark ages with no answers. Research gives us hope.鈥�
This story ran in the July issue of Stroll magazine in the following communities: Locust Valley, Oyster Bay, Upper Brookville and Lloyd Harbor.